Hello everyone. I and my team are in the process of designing a retrospective cohort study. I am wondering if there is a need to register a retrospective cohort study (for transparency), and if so, are there any appropriate free databases (analogous to ClinicalTrials.gov) that would accept such a study. Thank you all!
you can share your study protocol via your Researchgate or other academic and scientific pages or try the FDA system for registry of cross-sectional, case-control, and retrospective study designs (the system gives you a code like the RCT registry code but it's acceptable/valid for all journals and reviewers). However, as you know, there is no obligation for early protocol registration of such studies (before running the study). At this time, clinical trials and systematic reviews/meta-analyses are the most important studies there is sensitivity and obligation on their prior protocol registration. So, if you don't register your retrospective study protocol (in prior) it's ok! But if you will register it, it's a valuable point for your study. And the last but not least; if you will register or share your protocol before running the study, you should determine your primary and secondary aims and statistical analysis. So you should follow the pre-determined rules and aims (as you have registered in your protocol) in your manuscript/article. Also, if you want to change your way different from your registered protocol, you should justify it for reviewers of your manuscript.
Good luck!
What type of cohort study? I have some otolaryngology disorder data in the register books, if you take the help of them, let me know!
TYPES OF COHORT STUDY
Cohort studies can be conducted in two different ways:
(1) concurrent or prospective cohort studies
(2) non-competing or historical, retrospective cohort studies
Both cases are observational studies, which do not require records of previous protocols.
Prospective cohort study is more significant than retrospective. Because retrospective has confounding variables which bias your results of the research.
A retrospective cohort study does not require a registration as well as an observational prospective studies.
As Cohort Study is previously recorded data may not be required to register but should get permission from the institutional permission.